Nutaryuk
by Silver-Infinite
Summary: In an alternate universe filled with SnowAllen as part of Millie & Sigma's Couples' Challenge.
1. Lady Luck

**This is based on S4 episode Luck Be A Lady. I've taken few liberties with this such as replacing Iris with Linda Park. Iris took a job somewhere far since in my version of off-screen events because just like Post Flashpoint she got pissed at Joe for lying about her mom thus creating a strained relationship and coincidentally she got a job offer. She took the offer and left after her mother. I know Linda left encountering her doppelgänger Dr. Light, but here to diverge from canon Dr. Light wasn't her doppelgänger. It was her dead sister's doppelgänger. Also I changed an few details about Hazard's civilian identity such making her few years older than 24 and she's known as Becca _not Becky. So without further ado here's my SnowAllen entry to Millie & Sigma's Couples' Challenge._**

* * *

The blue tinted fog surrounded Barry's vision. Straining his ears, he thought he heard Cisco yell. "BARRY! Where are you?!"

"I don't know!" Barry rounded the corner, gripping his gun. "I lost Linda; there's too many of them, man."

"No!" Cisco cried. "You can take them, just listen to me. You just need to do one thing: Run Barry. Run!"

Resolve strengthening, Barry shot to his feet and charged out of his hiding spot.

About three guns started rapid firing, and his battle cry turned into a groan as his laser-tag chest-plate powered down. "C'mon," Barry huffed, glaring at the three middle school aged kids that had shot him down. "They got me," he called over his shoulder to Cisco, who shook his head.

"You have failed this city!" he groaned, before running out into the open himself. Before he could even fire his gun, his own chest-plate powered down.

Barry sighed, and pointed above.

"For real, Chad?" Cisco asked, shaking his head. Chad smirked and blew invisible smoke from the barrel of his gun. "In the back?"

"Suck it, old man," Chad sassed.

Barry and Cisco both gave him extremely affronted expressions. Linda jogged up behind them, still holding her gun. "Wait; did you guys die already?" she asked, sounding unimpressed.

"Chad-" Cisco started.

Barry pouted. "He just told us that- ugh, never mind. Come on. Come on."

"I don't know what's wrong with kids these days. Churlish."

Shaking her head in disappointment at Chad, though she didn't even know what he had said, Linda raised her gun and fired a few shots at him before walking off after her friends.

They returned their laser-guns and chest-plates at the front desk before joining Caitlin outside at a picnic table. As they sat waiting for Cecil and Joe to arrive with food, Chad and his band of middle-school friends strode by.

"You better watch yourself, Chad," Cisco, who was sitting on the picnic table, called out. "Meet me in the paintball field next time. I'll kick your little ass."

Joe took the opportunity to arrive. "Pretzel with chocolate dipping sauce for Caitlin," he said, placing the food down in front of her. "Corndog for Linda. Two fries for Cisco, and three burgers, five churros, and six funnel cakes for Barry."

Caitlin laughed outright as Barry's stomach growled and he rubbed his hands together, grinning like a small child.

"Look at all of this junk!" Cecil said, shaking her head. "Guys, I'm really sorry. If the pipes in the house weren't making this weird, annoying sound, I would have had you all over for dinner."

"Squeaky pipes at the West house, what a surprise," Barry deadpanned, exchanging knowing looks with Joe, who nodded his agreement.

"Really?" Cecil seemed intrigued. "You're familiar with this sound?"

"Oh, yeah," Barry nodded. "You mean the..." he started squeaking horribly, making Joe laugh.

"It's been doing' that for..." Barry's eyebrows scrunched, thinking hard. "18 years?"

"Hey," Joe cut in before Barry could start imitating more parts of the house. "Every house has a personality. Mine just likes to be heard."

Barry's phone suddenly buzzed on the table next to his extensive plates of food. He glanced down at it, then grabbed it, eyes going wide. "Oh my gosh, they broke up! The South-Easts broke up!"

Caitlin's mouth fell open. "Yes!" She high-fived Barry before looking a little more subdued. "Normally I would be sad for the couple, but yay Snow-Allen."

Cisco left out a strained laugh. South-East did an compass dating site put them together." Making everyone chuckle. "Although serious who are they and why are we happy their love is dead?" He asked serious now.

"They were the couple that was getting married at the Swan House the weekend of the fourth, Caitlin explained to the blank faces. "Which means the venue is open now."

That's amazing!" Linda commented nodding happy for the couple.

"So now we just need to put down a deposit down." Barry said grabbing for Caitlin's phone.

However suddenly everyone's phones, save for Cecil, buzzed. "Oh, breach alert guys," Joe reported, getting to his phone first. "We gotta go."

Cisco grabbed on of his two orders of fries, and Barry stuffed another funnel cake in his mouth before grabbing a churro for the road. Then the whole Team ran off to STAR Labs.

After finding out that the breach carried none other than Harry Wells over to their Earth, and that Jesse was breaking up with Wally through what Harry called a "Break-Up Cube", the Team turned their attention to a bank robbery happening down town.

Barry changed into his suit and flashed off. Team Flash watched the security footage, which showed a very odd string of events happening that made it possible for their new robber to just casually walk into a bank and take a couple bagful of money.

"I'm almost there," Barry reported.

"She's getting away in a Prius," Linda informed him, watching the feed as Cisco quickly hopped from street-cam to street-cam.

"Last time I checked the Flash is faster then a Prius."

He was just about to reach the car when a cylinder of marbles fell off of a truck parked on the side of the road. The tiny round balls went all over the street, and Barry's foot rolled straight over them.

Up into the air he went, flipping spectacularly before landing with a thump on his stomach.

"_What the heck_?!" Barry mumbled, fingering a marble and staring around him in confusion.

When he got back to STAR Labs, Caitlin looked up at him in raised her eyebrows. "Marbles. That's a first."

Barry huffed, and Cisco pulled up the footage from the scene of the crime. The main camera was swinging all over the place, and they had no clearer of a picture than they had when they were first watching it. "That is the least secure security footage that I've ever seen," Cisco commented.

"Yeah, that's not even the weirdest thing she made happen," Barry said, shaking his head. "I mean, I slipped on a barrel of marbles. It was if I was in a cartoon."

Caitlin winced sympathetically, though she still thought it was a little funny. "That's some _seriously_ bad luck."

"There's no such thing as luck," Harry muttered.

"Yeah?" Cisco turned around, raising his eyebrow. "Say that to my cousin Hector. He got jinxed by an ex... hasn't been able to find a good parking spot for three years."

Caitlin snorted with laughter, though the nose was thankfully covered up by Linda and Joe's entrance. "Hey," Linda called. "So, I ran the sketches of the robber you made us through the CCPD database, and…"

Her name's Becca Sharp," Joe finished as the picture of a young woman came up onto the screen. "She's 28 years old, no priors.."

"No priors?" Barry's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Then... why is she in the database?"

"Because in the last three years she lived in Central City she's been rear-ended four times, her identity stolen twice, a cat burglar _actually_ burgled her cat..."

Barry whistled softly and Cisco shook his head. "You see, Harry? That is some seriously bad juju."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, Ramon. What you call juju, I call quantum entanglement. Discrete quantum particles are connected, and when triggered they simulate a synchronicity that, too the untrained eye to the _common_ eye it could seem like luck."

"So, if Becca can affect the particles around her in a positive way, then their connected particles start spinning negatively?" Barry confirmed.

"So when good things happen to her, bad things happen all around her," Caitlin agreed, trying to put it into a bit more "normal English" for Joe and Linda's sake.

"Great," Cisco sighed. "She's got a good luck field."

"She's a meta?" Joe asked.

"Well, except she can't be," Linda argued. "I mean, she's only been in Central City for three years."

"Yeah, so there's no way she was affected by the Particle Accelerator Explosion," Caitlin agreed.

Harry hummed thoughtfully, but Barry shrugged. "Neither was Killgore," he reminded them. "But we saw firsthand what he could do."

Joe rubbed his forehead. "Not to sound like a broken record, but where the heck are all these new metas coming from?"

"You know what? Maybe the scanners in the suit picked something up," Cisco suggested thoughtfully, turning to his computer.

Barry gave him a look. "You said you took all the tech out!"

"Okay, well, I left something in, okay? Sue me."

Joe's phone buzzed as Barry and Harry wandered over to see what Cisco had. "Cecil needs me at the house," he told them, turning to leave. "You guys let me know what you find out."

"There," Harry said after something beeped. He pointed to the screen, and Cisco sent him an annoyed look.

"Yeah, I see it. The suit definitely recognized trace amounts of Dark Matter on Becca."

"So if there was another Dark Matter incident..." Caitlin started.

"We need to figure out how and where it happened, ASAP." Barry finished, exchanging a glance with her.

Harry nodded his agreement. "I'll calibrate your satellite to scan for the same Dark Matter found in your suit!"

"Uh, no you won't," Cisco said, shooting a glare at Harry. "Don't you- don't you touch that satellite!"

He ran after Harry, the sound of their argument fading down the hall.

Caitlin shook her head with a faint smile, then glanced down at her phone. "I've got to run home. I have a... delivery that should have been arriving soon." She said and Barry gave her a quizzical look. "Love you."

"Bye," Barry called after her, still looking confused.

Caitlin hurried to her car and drove home, feeling a little guilty about leaving the scene of scientific investigation with a new meta on the loose but also way to excited to wait trying to keep her anxiety at bare minimum.

Her wedding dress had just arrived at the apartment, and she _need_ to try it on. After all time was of the essence for the bride.

Meanwhile, Barry was sent off to talk to Becca. He was hoping that he could talk some sense into her, or at least confirm that Cisco and Harry's theory about all of the metas being exposed to Dark Matter on a bus was correct.

He found Becca at Jitters, sitting and scratching away at one of the cards with the numbers underneath. Apparently she won, because she grinned excitedly and tapped her card against the table.

"Becca?" Barry asked softly, tilting his head. "Mind if I sit here?"

Becca looked up at him, her face scrunching. "Today's my lucky day, but you're really not my type," she said with a shrug.

"Can I sit?" Barry repeated, not waiting for a response and taking the seat across from her. "Um, Becca well, you're probably wondering how I know your name."

She shrugged. "It's written on my cup."

Barry, consequently diverted from his perfect entrance into his point, fumbled for a second. "Right, but, um, no. That's not how I know your name. You see I work for the CCPD as a CSI. I investigate very... _special_ people."

Becca looked worried. "I'm not special." She said with a hint of self-loathing.

"Quite to the contrary you're special. In fact all metahumans are. Which is what I think you are."

Becca looked confused. She let out a nervous laugh and reached for her coffee.

"See, I think you were exposed to Dark Matter on a city bus four weeks ago," Barry continued.

"I think I would know if I was exposed to "Dark Matter"." she deflected. "That's weird."

Barry was undaunted. "Becca, I know you've been having a _lot_ of luck lately, and that you took some money from the Central City Bank that doesn't belong to you."

Becca looked a little alarmed. "How do you know all that?"

"I just do. Look, getting powers... it's overwhelming. I'm sure you don't know how they work, or what you should do with them..."

"I have some idea."

Barry reached forward, but Becky gave him a look. "Ah ah. Do you really wanna... test your luck? Bad things happen to people who get in my way."

Barry looked slowly around Jitters. The pressure on a coffee machine was rising to dangerous levels. A waitress on the second floor lost her hold on the trey of coffees and they almost went spilling over the banister. Someone working on the Jitters sign turned his staple gun towards his face as it stopped working.

"Listen, CSI guy," Becca continued, turning Barry's attention back to her. "My entire life has been one piece of crummy luck after the next."

"We all have ups and downs in life-"

"No, not me," she sighed. "I have only _ever_ been dealt bad hands. But I knew one day the universe would see it made a mistake! And then _I'd_ have the run of the table. I got on that bus, and Lady Luck smiled on _me_."

Barry shook his head. "Becca, this isn't some higher power fixing a miscalculation. You have powers, and they're affecting everyone around you, making them feel as awful as you used to feel."

Becca glanced at her hands, letting out a small sigh. "I'm sorry about that," she admitted. "But maybe it's just their turn. Maybe for once everyone else can feel for a second how bad I've felt my entire life. Anyway. There is _nothing_ you can do to stop me."

She got out of her chair and started to walk backwards. Barry was about to go after her when he saw a drop of the coffee from the struggling waitresses mugs drip down toward the floor. It headed towards the dangerously pressured coffee machine, which was about to explode, steam pouring from it. A mother and her baby walked through the doors as the worker pointed his staple gun at them and then his face again, still trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Tootles," Becca said, heading for the back exit. Unable to follow her, Barry was forced to watch her leave.

For Caitlin, the afternoon was going significantly better. She had gotten back to her apartment and found the box that had her wedding dress in it. It was wrapped carefully in plastic and folded so that it wouldn't wrinkle, and she took it out _ever_ so carefully to try it on.

It had thin straps crisscrossing in the back, and was form fitting until it flared put a little at her waist, just the way she liked it, she spun around a few times, admiring it and feeling rather giddy, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Caitlin called instinctively, before gasping and yelling. "No, Barry, don't-"

It was too late. Barry opened the door and bobbed into the apartment. "Hey-"

"_Turn around_!" Caitlin hollered, and Barry's eyes widened for a half-second before he spun.

"I am I am I am!"

"Did you see?!" Caitlin demanded, scrambling for the blanket that was lying across her couch.

"I didn't see."

"You _saw_," Caitlin moaned.

Barry turned around cautiously. "I _did_ see... but just for a second."

"Which is like an eternity to a Speedster," Caitlin groaned. "You know it's bad luck to see a bride in her dress before the wedding day."

Barry winced. "Too late," he sighed.

Caitlin frowned. "What happened? What are you doing here?"

Barry winced even more. "The Swan House called. We're not going to be able to have our wedding there."

Caitlin's eyes went wide and she bit her lip. "What? Why?"

"Well, uh," Barry let out a puff of air. "The Villa burned down. I guess a crème brulee competition got a little heated."

Trying to stay positive, Caitlin took a deep breath. "Okay, well, thankfully we have our backup, right?"

Barry's shoulders slumped. "No, another couple booked it this morning."

Caitlin felt something in get crushed into tiny little pieces. She wanted to get married. A real marriage at a beautiful venue surrounded by her friends and family wearing her dress. After all they had been through, was it too much to ask. She sank into a chair, unsure of what to make of the situation.

Barry crouched down in front of her, quick to comfort. "It's okay, though. It's okay. If we can stop evil speedsters from destroying the planet we can find a wedding venue." "Barry, our wedding is in _eight weeks_," Caitlin reminded him, shaking her head. "It'll work out, okay?" Barry insisted. "I would marry you anytime, anywhere."

"Actually Barry," Caitlin got interrupted by her and Barry's phones which the alerts were chiming from. Before she knew was back in her casual clothes courtesy of Barry speed dressing her and speed rushing them to get back to Star Labs. "Are you ok?" she faintly heard Barry asking her before upchucking on Barry's shoes. She gave him an look that practically said does that answer the question.

_(**An little while later that incident)**_

Becca's quantum field is increasing." Caitlin reported nervously from her place behind her desk.

"I'm almost at the casino," Barry replied.

They had recently figured out that when Becca Sharp used good luck (oh _the irony_) she caused a quantum field that could do some very, _very_ bad things. Things were so bad that the particle accelerator somehow restarted and was about to explode. Again. The more luck Becca had, the less luck the rest of the city did. And now she had entered a casino, a place where good luck was really all you could win on.

Barry reached the casino and located her. He prepared to rush into super speed, but instead of speeding off toward the _Good-Luck-Meta_ he slipped on some coins and crashed onto his back.

He _also_ somehow managed to cuff himself with the metahuman cuffs he had brought for Becca. "How is that even possible?" Barry muttered, staring at the cuffs in amazement.

"Barry, what happened?!" Linda demanded, confused as to why Becky wasn't already cuffed and city already saved.

"Well, she's playing the slots and, uh..." Barry sighed. "I cuffed myself."

Caitlin smiled faintly at how adorably hopeless that was, exchanging head shakes with Linda. "Oh, honey."

"Yeah, I know," He groaned. "I need to get it off. It's dampening my powers!"

Linda snapped to attention and shook herself. "Yes, yeah, yes. I'm trying."

Down in the pipeline, Harry and Cisco were struggling to stop the Particle Accelerator.

At the Wests' house, Joe and Cecil were trying to make it outside as their house started falling apart. And in the casino, Becca got the second cherry on one of the slot machines, and someone accidentally set off the fire alarm that freaked everyone out.

Things were getting worse.

"There's no fire!" Barry yelled, trying to get everyone to calm down. As he spoke, on of the signs suddenly broke off it's nail and crashed into his back. Pain flared across his neck and he tumbled to the ground.

"Barry, I can't get the cuffs off!" Linda said desperately.

"Yeah, well now we've got a sign to get off of me, too," Barry informed her.

"10 seconds to Particle Accelerator activation," Caitlin reported nervously. How could Harry and Cisco not have shut it down already?

Becca was clapping her hands, begging the slot machine to show three cherries as Barry watched in horror from underneath his sign. Somewhere up above Central City, a plane was veering towards the ground, both engines exploded and about to crash. Joe and Cecil tried to make themselves as small as possible in their rapidly deteriorating house.

Caitlin somehow managed to cut herself on the edge of her desk, though she didn't think it was very important considering the other things that were going on.

"Three..." Linda counted down. "Two..."

Caitlin scrunched her eyes up in anticipation, waiting for the entire building to explode...

A shockwave shot out from Particle Accelerator, slamming through the city. Right as Becca was about to get the last cherry, it changed to a star instead.

She sat back, her lucky streak finally ruined. "No..." she breathed. "What? A star? I don't understand! I lost?!"

Caitlin looked up cluelessly, unsure as to why they all weren't dead. "What just happened?"

Cisco's voice came through his walkie-talkie. "The hydrogen collision produced a charge that countered her quantum field. We did it!" He sounded relieved and amazed, and Caitlin had the feeling this hadn't been his idea.

Barry got himself sorted out and cuffed Becca, and she was soon back at STAR Labs, moping in the Pipeline.

Caitlin did a quick check-up on Barry's back and put a band aid on her hand, and the two of them sat and waited while the rest of the Team filed into the room.

It was about then that Wally joined them. Cisco was halfway through putting Becca's picture on the whiteboard, which held spaces for all the possible bus-metas, and so Wally took a quiet seat in the corner and simply watched.

"Two down," Linda said, nodding, satisfied.

"We got this," Cisco agreed, grinning.

"Yeah," Wally said, speaking up finally. "You do."

The rest of them frowned at each other, unsure of what to make of this comment. "Wally... what's wrong?" Joe asked, confused.

Wally stood up his shoulders slumped. "You guys tell me. The city was about to blow up... no one realized I wasn't here."

Caitlin winced, feeling _incredibly_ guilty. How had she not noticed that one of the members of their team was just... gone?

"Where did you go, West?" Linda asked, eyebrows scrunching.

"I went to Earth 2 to see Jesse," Wally said, glancing around the room. Even more guilt filled Caitlin. She had _also_ managed to forget that Wally's girlfriend had broken up with him just two days ago. "I needed to hear it from her," Wally continued. "She told me she needs to focus on herself, and I get it and I think I have to do the same."

Joe and Linda both frowned, confused, but Barry nodded. He understood how it felt when you needed time to figure yourself out.

"So..." Wally let out a sigh. "I'm leaving Central City."

"W- where are you going?" Joe asked, his voice soft.

Wally's spine straightened. "I'm going to go stay with a friend in Blue Valley."

"Every hero has his or her own journey," Barry spoke up, nodding at him. "Your's is taking you on a new path. You owe it to yourself to go."

Wally nodded back, looking relieved that at least one person supported his decision. He strode forward and wrapped Barry in a hug, which Barry returned with a small half smile.

Caitlin took her cue as he pulled back and hugged Wally herself. "Good luck," she whispered to him, and he nodded into her shoulder. She stepped back, standing next to Barry and taking his hand.

Wally said goodbye to the rest of the team, but soon he was walking out the door, shoulders straight and looking more at peace then he had in a long time.

"West leaves..." Harry muttered thoughtfully. "Allen returns, West leaves, move and counter move."

Barry frowned at the oddly riddle-like statement. "What's your point?"

"Simply that mysterious stranger comes down, seeks out the Flash..."

"Causes us to open the Speed Force," Caitlin added, tilting her head in consideration.

Linda nodded, catching on. "Which caused the creation of a dozen new metas."

"Wait," Joe spoke up. "You think... the guy being the Samurai Robot-"

"Samaroid," Cisco corrected.

"You think he _wanted _us to create a busload of metas?"

Harry shrugged. "I think it's all connected."

"Why would anyone want to create metas?" Linda demanded.

"I don't know." Barry shook his head. "But whoever they are, they've got a seriously warped way of thinking."

_**Time Jump Later that evening back to Caitlin's place **_

"Caitlin it's fine you don't have to do my shoes although it does bring back the memory of you doing the exact same thing when I first took you running but since then you build up an tolerance as time went on, but obviously we haven't been doing since I went in-," Caitlin interrupted him

"Barry, I'm pregnant." That left an speechless and dumbfound Barry not seeming to hear Caitlin calling for his attention.

* * *

_**I know the challenge was supposed to get SnowAllen officially together in the end, but seeing the nature of this ****episode**** and the ending in general I thought it would be better if they were already an ****established couple and I had an urge to make an SnowAllen family **__**family and this just seem like the place to introduce you guys to the idea of it since this ****episode**** ended with Joe learning **__**Cecil was expecting. So I decided to swap them for SnowAllen being ****pregnant **__**plus with the announcement of Danielle's pregnancy it seem like the perfect time to publish this. Now I know the true ****villain**** of this ****episode was The Thinker, but he's not **__**relevant here since his villainy lead to the **__**ridiculousness subplots of Barry getting framed and that trial plus being imprisoned for an few episodes. Right now as I plan this story out further I just want to focus on SnowAllen's journey to parenthood. **_


	2. Elongated Journey

**Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but my stories**

* * *

Barry filled Joe in on their new leads on the bus metas after an uncomfortable viewing of an interview for a new mayoral candidate. The guy, named Bellows, was extremely annoying, and Barry and Joe were glad to escape up to Barry's lab.

"According to the Department of Transportation over 900 people rode that bus that day," Barry informed Joe as they both looked at the two photos of Killgore and Becky, up on his bulletin board.

"What about the bus driver?"

"That's where things get more interesting. He's dead. Drowned. In his own bathtub." Joe nodded slowly, eyebrows raised. "That's not suspicious."

"Harry said it was all connected," Barry agreed. "I think he's right. The Samaroid pushing you guys to bring me back; me not coming out of the place you thought I would; the bus being at the exact right place to be hit by Dark Matter..."

"It was planned," Joe agreed.

"Yeah. By somebody smart."

"We're pretty smart," Joe said.

Barry shrugs. "Well, I think so."

"Well, let's look closer into the bus driver's death," Joe suggested. "It may give us a lead."

Barry nodded. "I'll have Caitlin pull up the autopsy report from the coroners office."

"That's good," Joe said. He noticed Barry having an somewhat strange look on his face. The look he would get signaling that Barry was in his own mental world.

"What?" "I don't know," Joe said, wrinkling his nose. "But it's... this morning... you're, like, glowing.""What do you mean, "Glowing"?" Barry asked, mimicking Joe's hand motion and frowning. I just mean you've got, like, a warmth about you. Like a bright light. Joe explained. "There's no warmth, no glow, and _definitely _no light bright," Barry countered, sounding rather defensive. "I'll see you at STAR Labs."

Why is the scariest person I've ever seen roaming our halls?" Linda asked, walking into the Cortex with her eyebrows raised. "Oh, good morning, Barry."

"Cisco," Barry and Joe replied as unison. "And good morning," Barry added.

Nodding in understanding, Linda turned her attention to Caitlin, who had started speaking. "Okay, so I've got the coroner's report for the death of the bus driver, but it doesn't seem like there's any signs of foul play..."

She trailed off, Joe and Barry leaning over and joining Caitlin in looking at the tablet screen with her.

"Aside from him being the only one who could have told us who was on that bus," Joe commented.

"Now for his personal effects; let's see..." She frowned in concentration. "Credit cards, cash, receipts..."

"Wait, go back," Barry said, his eyes catching something on the screen Caitlin hadn't.

Caitlin scrolled back to the previous display, which was a card that read 'Ralph Dibny, Private Investigator' with a fingerprint in the center. Next to that was written: _I owe you $5 for the ride. 10/03/17._

"Ralph Dibny," Barry muttered.

"I'll be darned," Joe agreed.

"Who is he?" Caitlin asked. "I feel like that name sounds familiar."

"He used to be a cop," Joe responded.

"Dirty cop," Barry added. "He got kicked off the force. I've probably mentioned his name to you." "Why'd he get kicked out?" She asked.

"It's a long story," Joe murmured.

Caitlin quickly pulled up a profile and Barry turned to the screen, his lips scrunching. "That's him."

"Oh," Linda tilted her head, considering the picture. "He's handsome in a square-jawed, Oliver Queen kinda way."

Barry turned around and gave her a look. "For real?"

Linda shrugged, smirking. "Hey, I can look at who I want to buddy."

Barry rolled his eyes and turned back to the large screen on the wall as zoomed in on the picture of the card Ralph had given the bus driver. "The IOU is dated the same day that I came out of the Speed Force," he noted.

"You think Dibny was on the bus that day?" Caitlin asked. "Maybe he's a metahuman now?"

Barry's lips pinched again unhappily. "Let's pay him a visit."

He was about to stride out when Caitlin caught his eye. "Hey," she said, speaking softly so everyone else in the room knew she was really just talking to Barry. "You seem... something. What happened with you and this Ralph guy?"

"Like Joe said," Barry evaded. "It's a long story."

He leaned down and pecked her on the lips, and Caitlin shrugged, knowing she would find out eventually. She leaned over and whispered to Linda: "Oliver Queen _is_ hot_."_

"Amen alleluia," Linda agreed.

Ralph Dibny had very much been on the bus that was hit by Dark Matter. He now had the disgusting, weird, but _very_ scientifically interesting ability to stretch.

The ability, unfortunately, was one that he had absolutely no control over. After being dangled off the building by a few guys that didn't like him all that much, Ralph's legs had stretched so long that he landed on his back in an alleyway, 5 stories lower. That was where Joe and Barry had found him, his legs a pile of stretch around him and decidedly in shock.

Those aforementioned legs were still just as long as they had been in the alleyway, and were now stretched almost halfway to the STAR Labs elevator, where they led to the Cortex and the medical bed.

Barry and managed to round up Ralph and bring him back to STAR Labs, where he and Caitlin were now trying desperately to calm him down.

A scream echoed down from the corridor, and soon Linda was barreling into the Cortex. "GUYS!" she cried. "We have-"

"We know," Barry said.

_"What is happening to me?!_" Ralph demanded, completely flipping out.

_"Breath_," Barry commanded. He and Caitlin made matching inhale-exhale motions with their hands.

"I am breathing," Ralph wheezed, eyes still locked on his ridiculously long legs.

"Clearly he's an meta," Linda muttered.

"This is interesting," Harry commented, seeming very calm with the whole thing. "It seems the Dark Matter has polymerized Disney's cells."

"My last name is_ Dibny not Disney_!What the _hell_ is Dark Matter and why is it my cells?!" Ralph cried.

"You're saying the walls of every cell in his body have elasticized?" Caitlin asked, her face looking adorably intrigued.

"I'm saying they've formed an unbreakable bond at the atomic level. Now you can stretch these cells and stretch these cells..."

"Like an slingy?" Linda suggested unsure. Caitlin spoke up "Actually I was thinking more along the lines of silly putty."

Ralph gave them a horrified look. "I don't want to be an slingy or silly putty I hated silly putty as a kid."

"No," Barry and Caitlin assured him together.

Harry, however, shrugged. "Kinda."

Ralph let out a whimper.

"Ralph!" Joe interjected before things could escalate more. "Who were the guys on the roof?"

"Is that _really_ the issue right now?" Ralph asked, gesticulating widely at his legs. "LOOK AT ME!" He reached up, grabbed Barry's coat collar, and yanked him down. "Allen, you and your STAR Labs crew better put me back together-"

"We're trying to help you!" Barry yelled, obviously infuriated at being grabbed like that.

"Yeah ri-"

"Would you shut up-"

"OKAY!" Caitlin yelled, pulled Barry away from Ralph before a fight could break out. She stood in between them, glaring at Barry until he was quiet and then glaring even harder at Ralph. "We can do this later; I just need a sample of blo- AH!"

She had grasped Ralph's arm, prepared to pull it until she could stick a needle into it, maybe a little less gently then she should have. Instead of making him lean over in bed, his entire arm stretched until it was a limp string in her hands. Sick with disgust, Caitlin abruptly dropped his arm, then accidentally stepped on it. When Ralph yelled in pain she stumbled back, put her hand on a depressor for a gas spray, and fell into Barry.

The spray hit Ralph and his entire face twisted.

Then he sneezed.

Ralph's face became liquid goo, oozing into his hands. "OOH..." Ralph groaned, voice coming out weird and muffled, but his lips, which were lying in his hand, somehow still moving. "Is that my face?!"

Caitlin grabbed an trash can and turned around vomited in it. Joe also vomited too in a corner. Barry and Linda exchanged looks this wasn't going to be _fun. _

**Flash!**

"You guys gotta fix him ," Joe pleaded as they all stood around the Cortex, talking about Ralph's... situation. "My stomach can't take much more." Caitlin nodded in agreement.

"I think I could stabilize his cells if I had a sample of his DNA from prior to when he was exposed to the Dark Matter on the bus," Caitlin told them.

Barry turned around from where he had been putting up Ralph's picture on the white board. He frowned. "Why? So he can go out and start hurting people like our other friends here? I think we should lock him up in the Pipeline."

Caitlin raised her eyebrows in an expression that clearly was half _excuse me?!_ and _do you really now? _"He hasn't done anything," was what she said instead.

"Yet," Barry said. "Trust me. I know this guy. He's a bad guy."

"Barry..." Caitlin responded, her voice trailing off awkwardly. She wasn't enjoying this side of Barry that she was seeing. "I took an oath to help people. I'm a doctor. I can't just leave him in there like spaghetti which is just making me nausea thinking about it."

Barry didn't seem to be listening. He had turned and picked up a marker, and, in bold black letters, wrote _VILLAINS_ at the top of the white board.

Linda raised her eyebrows, looking about as unimpressed as Caitlin felt. "Villains?"

"Yeah," Barry said. "Every person that was on that bus is now a thousand times more dangerous than they were before. Dibny included."

"What if he's changed?" Caitlin protested. She didn't know exactly what had gone on with Barry and Ralph, though she vaguely remembered that it hadn't been anything good. Still... everyone deserved a second chance, right?

"People don't change," Barry said, rolling his eyes.

Caitlin shook her head. "I did," she said bluntly. "When I became Killer Frost, you still believed in me."

"You're a good person," Barry told her softly. "He's... not."

Caitlin let out a long sigh, and Linda took her cue. "Barry, how about you and I go to Ralph's office and look for some DNA for Caitlin, alright?"

Telling from her tone that she wouldn't take no for an answer, Barry rolled his eyes and huffed like a petulant child, and the two of them left Caitlin and Joe in the Cortex alone.

Caitlin's shoulders slumped. "I don't understand why he's being like this," she said to Joe. "What _happened _between them?"

Joe shook his head and blew out a breath of air. "I think that's something you should probably ask Barry," he said unhelpfully. "That's his story to tell."

**Flash!**

Linda and Barry had been ambushed when they went back to get the DNA from Ralph's office. Linda came back and told Caitlin the whole story, ending with, "And that's what it feels like to vibrate through solid matter."

Caitlin whistled softly. "Remind me not to try it," she muttered, before sending a relieved glance in Barry's direction. "I'm just glad you two weren't hurt."

"No thanks to your little buddy in there," Barry said grumpily.

_Not this again_. "He's not my buddy, he's my patient," Caitlin shot back, patience beginning to wear thin.

"Caitlin, I just don't understand why you're defending him-"

She spun around, her eyes blazing and the truth finally spilling out. "Because I know what it's like to suddenly find yourself with _extraordinary _powers and be totally freaked out by it! And so do you, for that matter. You and I _both_ woke up in this lab once knowing our lives would never be the same. So how about you give the guy a little sympathy?"

Barry's head dropped, and Caitlin knew she had finally gotten him to listen to her side of the argument.

It was about then that Joe walked in, with the information that Ralph had been calling the Mayor... a _lot_. Like, 15 times in the past week, a lot. Barry gave her one of his frustrating "I told you so" looks, and they were back at square one.

Sure that she wouldn't be able to keep her cool through another argument with the man she loved, Caitlin took the DNA from Linda and started on making a cure for Ralph.

**Flash!**

Caitlin's cure had worked, of course. She smiled at Ralph as she finished up his checkup. "Your vitals are fantastic," she reported.

Ralph smiled coyly at her, looking pleased. It was about then that Joe and Barry came in.

"Blackmailing the mayor?" Barry said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Classic Barry Allen enters the room and accuses wildly," Ralph shot back.

"We know about the photos, Ralph. Bellows told us everything," Joe said, face drawn.

"Hey. I'm not the one who told him to step out on his wife," Ralph said with a shrug. Caitlin raised her eyebrows.

"That's your defense?!" Barry demanded. "It's _his_ fault that you're extorting him."

"Isn't that a little easy for you to say?" Ralph responded, un-velcro-ing the armband Caitlin had given him to check his blood pressure and all but throwing it at her. "Your fancy lab, your good job, and your hot girlfriend."

"_Fiancé_," Barry growled.

"People like me are just trying to get from one bill to the next," Ralph continued, ignoring Barry. "And I wouldn't have to be living like that, if _you hadn't cost me my job_!"

"You got yourself fired!" Barry shouted angrily. "You tampered with evidence! You _framed_ that guy."

So now the story was coming out. Caitlin's eyebrows rose higher.

"_Because he was guilty_!" Ralph roared. "And he was gonna get away with killing his wife and then _you_ let him go. I was a _good_ cop. I was a _good_ detective! I lost everything." His voice suddenly lowered in pitch, down to a low tone. "The mayor's got plenty of money. He can spare a little. Consider it the pension _you_ cost me."

Barry shook his head. "Good people don't destroy lives and call it noble," he said, his voice even. "You were dirty then. You're dirty now. Live with that."

Ralph's jaw tightened and he started to stride around Barry, towards the exit. Barry grabbed his upper arm. "You're not going anywhere."

"Get off me," Ralph growled, swinging around and trying to punch Barry in the face.

Barry ducked, popped back up, and punched Ralph in the nose.

Ralph's entire face bent and formed around Barry's fist, so for a second his hand was stuck inside the mass of skin. Caitlin winced she wasn't sure what was this or the snooty-vomit mess.

Finally, Barry wrenched his hand out, looking furious. Ralph shook his head, returning it back to it's correct shape, and gave Barry a hurt look. "Thanks for ruining my life _twice_, Allen."

Ralph decided that he was done blackmailing the Mayor, but instead of appreciating the offer, the Mayor shot him.

Of course, Bellows didn't know about Ralph's new stretchy ability. Ralph's face stretch back, the bullet not penetrating him at all, and he shot it out of one nostril into his hand.

"Bullet booger," Ralph winced. "Super gross."

Before Bellows could shoot again, the Flash arrived. Barry sped towards the Mayor and grabbed the gun out of his hand, moving Ralph at the same time.

It hadn't taken him long to figure out that the Mayor was behind the bomb in Ralph's office. Not only that, but he had sent two men to Barry's apartment and ambushed him and Joe. Barry had been able to save them with his speed, and stop the two henchmen, and now all that was left was to stop the Mayor, too.

"Mr. Mayor," Barry said, vibrating his voice and swinging the gun around one finger. "It's over."

It was about at that moment that a breach opened and Breacher (Gypsy's father) leaped out. He nailed Barry and Ralph with two breaches, one from either hand, and they tumbled backward.

"DIE, Plastiod!" Breacher bellowed. "Die! You will not infest this world as you did mine, Plastiod!"

He stalked toward Barry and Ralph, who were struggling to get up off the ground.

"Plastoid? What?" Ralph blinked in confusion. "Is he talking to me?"

"Breacher," Barry said calmly. "Stop-"

Breacher didn't listen, just blasted them with another vibe. "He dies!"

The Mayor took that opportunity to grab the gun and take off running towards the door. He ran into Joe, and shoved him in. "Get moving, Joe!"

"FLASH!" Joe yelled, getting Barry's attention as he was hustled off and gunpoint.

Concentration lost, Barry was easily knocked back by another vibe-blast. Ralph eyed Breacher nervously. "Look," he babbled. "You don't have to do this!"

"_Yes I do_," Breacher growled, and lifted his hands. Just as Ralph thought it was all over, Cisco appeared in front of him.

"Leave him alone," he commanded, in full Vibe regalia. "This guy didn't invade your earth- he didn't do anything wrong! He's like this 'cause of me and my Team. So if you've got a problem with him and his powers, then you deal with me."

Even though he was shaking with nerves, Cisco held his ground until, slowly, Breacher lowered his arms.

The sound of a helicopter made them all look up. Barry lurched to his feet, hurrying over to Cisco and staring upward. "The Mayor took Joe," he muttered, horror evident in his voice. "I can't run fast enough right now; I'll never have enough speed to just off. Can you breach me up there?"

Cisco shook his head. "No way. The event horizon would tear that helicopter apart."

"Okay," Barry breathed. Suddenly, he turned to Ralph. "You can get me up there."

Ralph blinked. "Me? _How_?"

"You can stretch, Ralph!" Barry cried, loosing patience.

"Are you crazy? I can't do that!" Ralph protested.

"Yes you can. Alright? I know that you have it inside of you to help someone other than yourself." Mentally, he thanked Caitlin for her argument; for trying to convince him there was a good inside of everyone. "I know you, Ralph."

Ralph squinted. "How could you _possibly_ know me?"

Sighing in resignation, Barry pulled off his cowl.

"Dude, are you _kidding_ me?" Ralph scoffed. "You're the Flash?! Everyone else gets struck by lightning and _dies_, and _you_ get superpowers?! I like the Flash. Now I have to hate the Flash-"

"RALPH!" Barry interrupted, grabbing his shoulder. "_Focus_. I need you to do this. Joe needs you to do this, _please_. Show me I was wrong about you. You said you were a good cop? Be one. Right now."

Face darkening in consideration for a painful few seconds, Ralph finally turned around and flung his arm skyward.

It stretched, and stretched, and kept stretching until it had grasped onto the bottom off the helicopter. "Hold on, Ralph!" Barry encouraged, before pulling on his cowl and racing up Ralph's elongated arm.

He found himself in the helicopter, in firm possession of the Mayor's gun, seated next to Joe.

After the helicopter landed and Bellows was arrested. Making sure they were out of earshot Barry broke the news to Joe "Caitlin's pregnant."

* * *

**I know this was nothing exciting, but had to get the story moving on. Hope yinzs enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday well as your Cyber Monday. Don't forgot to leave a review! **


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